Nick Stafford, who has been fighting with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Virginia, decided to pay his $2,987.14 tax bill in pennies.

It took five wheelbarrows to transport the nearly 300,000 coins to the local DMV. All the pennies broke the coin-counting machine and ultimately had to be counted by hand.

David Crigger / Via Herald Courier

Stafford has been fighting with the DMV since September, when he initially tried to call the local office to ask a question about where to register his car, since he owns multiple houses in the area, he explained in a statement.

The phone number listed online for the Lebanon DMV sent him to a customer call center in Richmond, which put him on hold for over an hour. Stafford decided to make a Freedom of Information Act request for a direct number to the DMV, which he was given.

The fight further escalated when Stafford called and was told he wasn't allowed to call the number and was hung up on. Eventually, Stafford was given the answer to his initial question, but he said he wanted government agencies to be more responsive to public inquiries. He even demanded to know the direct numbers of other Virginia DMVs, taking the issue to court.

"It shouldn't matter if you pay $300 per year in income taxes or pay $300,000 per year in income taxes like myself, because the backbone of a free democracy/republic begins with government transparency, period," he said.

Nick Stafford / Via Facebook

The total weight of the pennies was 1,548 pounds, Stafford said. He said the DMV was required by law to accept the unrolled pennies because of a federal act that specifies coins to be "legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."

It took staff at the local DMV more than 12 hours to count the coins, according to Stafford's statement. Several employees stayed late to finish the count.

The Bristol Herald Courier reported that Stafford hired 11 people to help him break open the rolled coins the night before he delivered them. It took four hours for his employees to break all the paper rolls with hammers, and he paid each person $10 per hour, bringing the total to $440. He also bought the wheelbarrows, costing another $400.

He also paid $1,005 to file his three lawsuits, arguing for more DMV numbers and for its employees to be fined. He was given the other phone numbers, but a judge ultimately dismissed the cases.

]]>Michelle Broder Van Dykehttps://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/worth-every-pennyThu, 12 Jan 2017 21:07:31 -0500The Virginia man was sick of the local DMV wasting his time, so he decided to pay the sales tax on his two cars with wheelbarrows full of coins.mbvdnonadult
<p><img src="https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2017-01/13/11/asset/buzzfeed-prod-web-03/sub-buzz-11773-1484325997-1.jpg?resize=625:491" width="625" height="491" alt="" /></p>
<p><small>David Crigger / Via Herald Courier</small></p>
<p>Nick Stafford, who has been fighting with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Virginia, decided to pay his $2,987.14 tax bill in pennies.<br /><br />It took five wheelbarrows to transport the nearly 300,000 coins to the local DMV. All the pennies broke the coin-counting machine and ultimately had to be counted by hand.</p>
<p><img src="https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2017-01/13/11/asset/buzzfeed-prod-web-02/sub-buzz-15329-1484326140-2.jpg?resize=720:948" width="720" height="948" alt="" /></p>
<p><small>David Crigger / Via Herald Courier</small></p>
<p>Stafford has been fighting with the DMV since September, when he initially tried to call the local office to ask a question about where to register his car, since he owns multiple houses in the area, he explained in a <a href="http://www.craftvinyl.com/page165">statement</a>.<br /><br />The phone number listed online for the Lebanon DMV sent him to a customer call center in Richmond, which put him on hold for over an hour. Stafford decided to make a Freedom of Information Act request for a direct number to the DMV, which he was given.</p><p>The fight further escalated when Stafford called and was told he wasn&#39;t allowed to call the number and was hung up on. Eventually, Stafford was given the answer to his initial question, but he said he wanted government agencies to be more responsive to public inquiries. He even demanded to know the direct numbers of other Virginia DMVs, taking the issue to court.</p><p>"It shouldn&#39;t matter if you pay $300 per year in income taxes or pay $300,000 per year in income taxes like myself, because the backbone of a free democracy/republic begins with government transparency, period," he said.<br /></p>
<p><img src="https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2017-01/15/18/asset/buzzfeed-prod-web-15/sub-buzz-28315-1484522656-7.jpg" width="625" height="469" alt="" /></p>
<p><small>Nick Stafford / Via Facebook</small></p>
<p>The total weight of the pennies was 1,548 pounds, Stafford said. He said the DMV was required by law to accept the unrolled pennies because of a federal act that specifies coins to be "legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."</p><p>It took staff at the local DMV more than 12 hours to count the coins, according to Stafford&#39;s statement. Several employees stayed late to finish the count.</p><p>The <i><a href="http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/virginia-man-spends-to-deliver-pennies-to-lebanon-dmv/article_7ce44fc2-ea36-5638-9358-25bc5d01a5dd.html">Bristol Herald Courier</a></i> reported that Stafford hired 11 people to help him break open the rolled coins the night before he delivered them. It took four hours for his employees to break all the paper rolls with hammers, and he paid each person $10 per hour, bringing the total to $440. He also bought the wheelbarrows, costing another $400.<br /></p><p>He also paid $1,005 to file his three lawsuits, arguing for more DMV numbers and for its employees to be fined. He was given the other phone numbers, but a judge ultimately dismissed the cases.</p>
<p><small></small></p>
nonadultnonadultnonadultThe 20 Stages Of Losing Your Mind At The DMVhttps://www.buzzfeed.com/katieb61/the-15-stages-of-losing-your-mind-at-the-dmv-ayn4
Department of Motor Vehicles? More like Department of Mindless Violence (Against Your Sanity).

And of course…

]]>mcatbaileyhttps://www.buzzfeed.com/katieb61/the-15-stages-of-losing-your-mind-at-the-dmv-ayn4Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:46:43 -0400<b>Department of Motor Vehicles?</b> More like Department of Mindless Violence (Against Your Sanity).katieb61nonadult<i>Shiiiiiiiiiiit.</i>nonadultLinks don&rsquo;t work. Typos everywhere. You hate this already.nonadultYou have paperclips, multiple black and blue pens, even a pretty binder. Lookatchu.nonadultThere&rsquo;s already a line out the door at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday. Lololol you&rsquo;re stupid.nonadultIf they hate their jobs so much, why don&rsquo;t they do something else? Why are they ruining your life? IT&rsquo;S NOT FAIR.nonadultEveryone hates everything and everyone, including you.nonadultYou now also hate everyone and everything.nonadultYou were a fool not to bring snacks.nonadultOMG THAT&#39;S YOU. PANIC ATTACK. HURRY!nonadultSurely this is the end of your misery.nonadultYOU WAITED FOR TWO HOURS FOR THIS? THAT WASN&rsquo;T ON THE WEBSITE. RAAAAAAGE.nonadult&ldquo;Ma&rsquo;am, I don&rsquo;t know. You&rsquo;ll have to go to another DMV station (across town) to stand in another line and then come back here. Before 4. It&rsquo;s now 3:30. NEXT!&rdquo;nonadultYou convince yourself that if you park your car on a different part of the street every day, you&rsquo;ll outsmart the cops.nonadultYou&rsquo;re actually praying again on a regular basis.nonadultAnd knowing that you are 100% being screwed and having no other options.nonadultYou&#39;re so done.nonadultYou blast Survivor&rsquo;s &ldquo;Eye of the Tiger&rdquo; on your way back to the DMV.nonadultYou pray that you filled in everything correctly.nonadultYou call your family to tell them the war is over.nonadultnonadultDepartment of Molting Vultures
Department of Moldy Vaginas
Department of Malicious Vagrants
Department of Macabre Vileness
Department of Masochistic Villains
Department of Monster Venom
Department of Malevolent Vehemence
Department of Moody VampiresnonadultDepartment of Mr. Voldemort
&hellip;or Department of Marvolo (Riddle) Voldemort!
It&#39;s all so clear now.nonadultVirginia DMV Hates Funny Thingshttps://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/virginia-dmv-hates-funny-things
A man in Virginia recently lost his protracted battle with the Department of Motor Vehicles and will no longer be able to use this awesome vanity plate. They claim that “‘eating’ children could be defined as cannibalism or as a sexual act.”

]]>Gavon Laessighttps://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/virginia-dmv-hates-funny-thingsThu, 06 Jan 2011 10:37:23 -0500<b>A man in Virginia recently lost his protracted battle with the Department of Motor Vehicles and will no longer be able to use this awesome vanity plate.</b> They claim that "&#39;eating&#39; children could be defined as cannibalism or as a sexual act."gavonnonadult